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The Taser
issue
By Richard Wiles
El Paso Police Chief
Law enforcement in America today is a dynamic and fast-paced discipline. It seems that on a daily basis, high-level managers have to look within their organizations to ensure they are keeping them consistent with national contemporary standards. There are many reasons for this, not the least of which are liability concerns. It is a constant struggle to ensure that your organization is doing everything that is considered reasonable within the law enforcement field.
Several years ago, I was at a meeting with representatives of Taser. They explained that they had taken the old �stun gun� and designed it into a truly effective defensive weapon for law enforcement officers. They provided demonstrations and accounts of actual departments and the benefits they have seen with this new piece of technology.
At the time, the El Paso Police Department had been under public pressure regarding some high-profile officer-involved shootings that had taken place; some of them mentally disabled individuals. Additionally, even when deadly force was not the issue, it was clear that when officers had no other options, they resorted to �hands-on� which often times resulted in injury to the officer, subject, or both. I quickly saw that this small piece of equipment had a great amount of potential.
We started off with 12 Tasers that were issued to officers to field test. We then went to 100 and ultimately our entire field force. We quickly discovered that Taser offered many benefits to our officers, department and ultimately the taxpayer:
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The number of officer-involved shootings diminished from an average of eight per year to an average of two per year; in 2004 we had none.
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The number of SWAT call-outs decreased from an average of 18 a year to six a year.
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The number of subjects injured dropped and as a result, the number of Internal Affairs complaints decreased.
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The number of officers injured dropped and as a result, Workers Compensation for injured officers was reduced as well as time lost away from work.
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The number of charges against subjects for resisting arrest and/or assault on an officer has dropped, saving taxpayers additional monies that would have been needed to prosecute these offenses.
This list is clearly not all-inclusive, but gives you an idea from a management point of view, of the important benefits that this piece of equipment offers to law enforcement in general.
As with any piece of new equipment, there is the potential for misuse and abuse.
Good management requires a clear and consistent policy and a training program that meets best practices. An evaluation of each and every discharge of the Taser should be made to ensure that policy and training are being followed as well as allowing for appropriate changes should they be needed. It is unfortunate that at times police officers are their own worst enemies. A piece of equipment that offers so much potential can be misused and will then be quickly regulated and/or discontinued. That is why it is the responsibility of management to ensure that it is used correctly and appropriately given the community standards that your organization operates under.
There are currently several bills before the Texas State Legislature that address the Taser issue. Two are extremely problematic. House Bill 1304 would place a temporary moratorium on the use of stun guns by peace officers for a full year. House Bill 418 would limit the Taser to deadly force situations.
Clearly, the authors of these two bills have no concept of police work and the dangerous situations that are faced every day by police officers. Either one of these bills would restrict the ability of police officers to have a defensive weapon that actually saves lives. With the Taser, many times officers are able to keep the incident from escalating so that they will not have to resort to deadly force.
House Bill 418 is simply an outrageous condition placed on a weapon that is not intended for use to confront deadly force situations. I certainly don�t think that this bill has any chance of passing, but should it; I would immediately remove the Taser�s from the field. I would never want to put an officer�s life in danger by making them think they can confront a deadly force situation with a Taser.
That being said, I understand that legislators do not simply dream up ideas for new laws but are typically responding to constituent concerns. The authors of these bills are probably hearing stories, whether true or not, about the misuse or abuse of these important tools. Their response is to pass laws to correct the problem or perceived problem.
That is why it is so important for management to have strong policies, excellent training and most certainly, follow-up and evaluation of each use. Additionally, each and every officer who uses a Taser should ensure that it is used consistent with the policy and training of their organization as well as applying common sense. When I hear about a Taser being used on a 12-year old juvenile that poses no threat to the officer, even I start to cringe.
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